Korea is, by no means, the only country to eat jeotgal (salted seafood). What makes Korea unique is the sheer variety of its jeotgal as well as the variety of foods for which jeotgal is used. Jeotgal is a rarely-apparent but vital part of many Korean foods. It features at virtually every meal as a side dish or a condiment/seasoning that accentuates the flavors of kimchi, soups, or braised dishes. Compared to kimchi and jang, jeotgal is a lesser-known category of fermented food but equally—if not more!—important.

Article Seo Dongchul (Editorial Team) Sources Doopedia, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture, K FOOD: Secrets of Korean Cuisine (Design House)

Fermenting nutrients from the sea

Before the invention of the refrigerator, how ingredients were stored was an immensely important issue. Ancient Koreans, who thought a great deal about how to store leftover vegetables and seafood so that they would not spoil over the long winter, took this issue especially seriously. The most commonly-employed methods were natural drying (by wind or sunlight) or pickling in salt or jang.

Jeotgal is the fermented version of salted fish flesh, roe, or offal. Korea’s highly-developed spectrum of jeotgal is rooted in the country’s geographical traits: namely, being a peninsula and the frequent intersection of warm and cold currents along its coasts that allows many types of fish to inhabit Korea’s waters. In Korea, the majority of jeotgal is made from fish (anchovy, small yellow croaker, octopus, squid, croaker, halibut, etc.) or their offal/roe (e.g. pollack roe, cutlassfish offal, herring roe, sea urchin roe). There is also jeotgal made with crustaceans, such as saltwater/freshwater shrimp, and clams (e.g. oyster, abalone). Seafood that is fermented after adding only salt is called jeotgal, while that fermented with less salt and a small quantity of a grain is called sikhae. Gejang (marinated crab) is also, technically, a type of jeotgal. According to a survey of historical documents conducted by the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, there are approximately 175 types of jeotgal and 45 types of sikhae. In other words, there are over 200 types of salted-and-fermented seafoods in Korea.

Sayings about jeotgal (e.g. “a monk in a jeotgal shop,” “If you are quick-witted, you can get jeotgal even from a temple,” “The salted shrimp merchant has arrived because the temple is on its way out”) share something interesting in common. Based on the frequent mention of (Buddhist) temples and monks, we can see that it was regarded as a meat equivalent at a time when most people could not afford meat (beef, pork, and chicken) more than a few times a year, at most. This is not a baseless belief: jeotgal is rich in amino acids and proteins because it is made with fish, clams, or crustaceans. The fermentation of the autolysins and microorganisms inside the jeotgal achieves a synergy with substances that break down free amino acids and nucleic acids, resulting in jeotgal’s characteristic savory taste. The small fish bones and crustacean shells soften while fermenting to become excellent sources of calcium. Jeotgal is especially rich in lysine and threonine—two amino acids that are often lacking in a rice-based diet—and several other nutrients, such as Vitamin B12, which are lacking in diets that rely on vegetables as opposed to meat.

The millennia-old history of jeotgal

The first mention of jeotgal in historical records is in the “Silla’s Records” (Silla Bongi) section of Samguk Sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms). A list from the third year of the reign of King Sinmun (683 AD) of gifts given by the king to his bride includes, alongside rice, liquor, jang, and jerky, a Chinese character signifying jeotgal (醢). Based on this, we can infer that jeotgal was regarded as a delicacy. The section on Goguryeo in The Book of Wei of China’s Twenty-Four Histories includes a sentence on how the people of Goguryo ate vegetables, used salt that was purchased/imported from far away, and were skilled at making fermented food due to the similarity of their vegetation with that of China. The word used is one that collectively refers to all fermented food, including jeotgal, and suggests that the latter was consumed from before the Three Kingdoms Period. Records of Goryeo, a travelogue written by Xu Jing (envoy and scholar of the Song dynasty) mentions that jeotgal was eaten regardless of social class, suggesting that jeotgal consumption was universal by the time of the Goryeo dynasty.

Jeotgal became even more diverse in the Joseon dynasty through itinerant merchants who transported jeotgal made in coastal regions throughout the country. In early Joseon, jeotgal was primarily a side dish and does not seem to have been used for kimchi. It was around the time of the Imjin War that jeotgal began to be used to make kimchi, after red peppers were brought to Korea: the peppers countered its fishy smell, which people realized makes kimchi taste better. It is also in the latter half of Joseon that jeotgal began to be categorized by how it is consumed (e.g. as a seasoning or side dish).

Diversity of jeotgal

Over its long history, jeotgal came to be made in three main ways: with salt, with a mixture of salt and pepper flakes, or with soy sauce. Of these, the first is the most prevalent: after washing the fish in saltwater, it is fermented after removing all moisture and sprinkling it with salt. Jeotgal is the outcome of two or three months of such fermentation, after which time the fish still retains its shape. After being fermented for over six months, the sauce, called “akjeot,” is separated from the dregs.

Jeotgal made using the second method (mixture of salt and pepper flakes) also usually includes garlic, green onion, and several other ingredients, which makes it popular as a side dish. This type of jeotgal is often made with pollack roe/tripe, cod gills, a cephalopod (e.g. squid, octopus), or clams. The most famous example of soy sauce-based jeotgal is ganjanggejang (soy sauce marinated crab). Made by fermenting cleaned, trimmed crabs in soy sauce that has been boiled and then cooled, it is called “kkotgejang” if made with blue crabs and “chamgejang” if made with freshwater crabs. Soy sauce-based jeotgal is also sometimes made with shrimp or abalone as a delicacy.

Jeotgal can also be categorized by region, because different species of fish inhabit each of Korea’s three coasts. The western coast has an especially wide range of fish because it is home to mudflats and produces plenty of salt (from its various salt fields). The most famous are eoriguljeot (spicy salted oyster) from Seosan, nonggejeot (salted sand crab) from Mokpo, kkolttugijeot (salted beka squid), kkotgejeot (salted blue crab), nakjijeot (salted octopus), jogaejeot (salted clam), and sorajeot (salted top shells).

Jeotgal from the southern coast is quite salty due to the many varieties of fish available (due to the intersection of warm and cold currents) and relatively warm weather. In particular, there are many types made with offal, including geujeot (salted abalone offal) of Jeju Island, galchisokjeot (salted cutlassfish offal), and changnanjeot (salted and pickled pollack tripe). Some districts make jeotgal with sebalnakji (long-legged octopus) or hanchi (swordtip squid). The eastern coast is teeming with fish year-round but lacks salt, resulting in many types of sikhae (e.g. plaice, pollack) that can be stored for only short periods of time because it is made with small quantities of salt and grain. When pollack was plentiful, myeongtae sikhae (salted pollack), which is made with the roe and offal that remains after trimming, and changnanjeot were the main types made in Gangwon-do. Seogeorijeot (salted pollack gills), garibijeot (salted scallop), ojingeojeot (salted squid), and kkolttugijeot are also common.

If you have ever tried jeotgal, reading this article is probably making you salivate! How about setting your table today with a bowl of warm, white rice and a serving of savory, salty jeotgal as the main side dish?